2018 is the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening up, and the first year of what is being termed as a new era for the wealth management industry. China's regulatory authorities with oversight responsibilities for the financial sector have emphasized repeatedly that preventing financial risk, strengthening the supervision over the sector, and further expanding financial reform are the main goals looking forward. Given these circumstances, the opportunities that are available as well as the challenges that must be faced by the wealth management industry are tremendous, signaling that the wealth management organizations with strong risk awareness coupled with a corporate culture that rewards innovation can be expected to be the ones that will stand out in the new era.

As a practitioner, facilitator and leader in the wealth management industry, Wu Dao Wealth has been focused on both the commercial value they deliver as well as the contribution that they make to society, while, at the same time, remaining dedicated to the core objective: providing high-net-worth individuals worldwide with global, diversified, personalized and one-stop asset allocation and wealth management solutions.

"Wu Dao Wealth will continue its efforts at innovation, to create value for customers with smart financial services that support wealth management with the goal of assuring and preserving the standard of living and quality of life for their clients, while taking the lead in formulating and advocating a framework that assures a stable and healthy development path for China's wealth management industry" said Wu Dao Wealth founding partner and chairman Hu Tianxiang at the event.

Participating economists said that China's economy has experienced more than 30 years of rapid development, and has now entered a period of more moderate growth. The key to wealth allocation is to leverage the basic characteristics of the new era, namely the two fundamental changes in the Chinese economy: the rise of a major social contradiction across the country that can be described as an increasing demand for a better quality of life among the general populace amid uneven and inadequate development balanced against the fact that China's economy has shifted from a rapidly developing one to one where development is based on quality.

Consequently, asset allocation should be directed to the industries with the highest relevance to the major contradiction. The expectation of a better quality of life comes with a considerable number of economic and cultural ramifications. Industries that can be expected to have the greatest growth potential include culture and entertainment, education, physical education as well as healthcare, and represent a main focus for future asset allocation.

Wu Dao Wealth, in its role as a pioneer and leader in China's wealth management sector as it enters a new era, has been committed to creating a leading platform for quality wealth management, and providing high-net-worth individuals in and outside of China with global, diversified, personalized and one-stop asset allocation and wealth management solutions.

Wu Dao Wealth's vision is to evolve into a public company with a market value of more than 10 billion yuan (approx. US$1.6 billion), with assets under management exceeding 1 trillion yuan (approx. US$ 160 billion). The company aims to serve hundreds of thousands of high-net-worth families and thousands of institutional customers, with operations in more than 60 Chinese cities as well as in many countries and regions. Wu Dao Wealth also plans to bring on board the world's leading financial institutions as strategic investors.

The economists present at the event all voiced the opinion that "in a new era, the development model proposed by Wu Dao Wealth can be expected to gain recognition among a growing number of individuals, families and institutions with wealth management needs".